Reader Comments (8)

Love the visual...of course I beg to differ with the standard definition of "healthy baby." It seems to me the more we learn about things the more we know that skipping out on the natural course of labor does have an impact on the child. They may appear "healthy," but I wonder about the long term effects (possibly epigenetic?).

I feel like adding the image to that post--perhaps I will (for some reason I always feel like I can't go back and make changes to old posts, unless there are typos, of which there is also one in that post...)

Hello! I took that photograph around 8 years ago - the baby in question is now 9 years old. His birth was extremely traumatic; my epidural failed before the surgery but the anesthesiologist felt I was "numb enough," which I definitely was not. Once they started cutting and I started screaming it was too late to re-do the epidural and rather than giving me a general, they went with a local, Fentanyl, and Versed. I managed to suppress most of this until I became pregnant with my daughter (7 months later) and the prospect of giving birth again started to loom. The anger has subsided a lo,t and most of the time I don't think about it, but the experience is still with me - a few weeks ago we unintentionally drove by that hospital for the first time in many years and I was caught off guard and a bit overwhelmed by the feelings it immediately evoked.

Over the years I've been contacted by many women who were moved by the photograph and felt it expressed how they felt. That's been very gratifying (and comforting in many ways!).

So, I hope that satisfies your curiosity on the origin of the photograph, and I'm honored that you asked!

Your picture makes me feel "sick" I had an emergency c-section 5 weeks ago and have only just started to deal with all the medical intervention I had. My other 3 births natural, no drugs very blessed...but your picture I find disturbing...and down grading. I fully understand your feelings but your picture is......just not right ...to me!